Parent Guidebook

With 62 majors at Seattle Pacific University — and media reports connecting specific majors with future earning power — your student may find the process of choosing a major confusing or stressful. He or she may even put off the decision as long as possible. To help reduce anxiety and clear up misinformation, SPU’s Center for Career and Calling has the facts to dispel common myths and help your student choose a major with confidence

News for Parents and Families

Reconciliation Leader John Perkins Gives 10th Annual Perkins Lecture

On April 21, John Perkins, renowned reconciliation advocate, spoke on campus for the 10th annual Perkins Lecture.

Now 84 years old, Perkins continues to be one of the leading evangelical voices to come out of the civil rights movement. In this lecture, he spoke to students, faculty, and staff about reconciliation and today’s contemporary Christian identity.

Says Perkins, “In Christ Jesus, the gospel is going to unite us back together, and the joy for me is that God is going to forgive our sin [and] restore me …. There’s no room in there for racism.”

Dad’s Day Recap

More than 275 SPU dads — including President Dan Martin, the parent of a freshman — and their students came together on April 25 for Dad’s Day 2015. Beginning with a prayer meeting, the day was full of fun, food, a special video about SPU’s engineering program — and Mariners baseball.

Help for the Undecided
If your student isn’t sure about what major to choose while registering for Autumn Quarter, encourage him or her to enroll in one of the two-credit courses taught by experts in SPU’s Center for Career and Calling: “Major and Career Exploration” or “Finding Your Vocation.”

Piece by Piece: How SPU Students Pay for College

If you’ve looked at the average cost of a university education and said, “There’s no way I can afford that,” you’re not the only one. Many of our students thought that about Seattle Pacific University at one point. Then financial aid packages arrived in the mail.

We help administer $100 million in aid, and for 2014–15 that meant an average financial award of $31,052 per student. For 2015–16, we’ve upped our merit scholarships to further help you academic all-stars.

SPU students fund their education in a variety of ways, including through scholarships, grants, and loans. Six SPU students share how they put the tuition puzzle together. Read more.